Amazon Accepts Cold Hard Cash via Coinstar Kiosks

Amazon users can now load up their account balance by adding cash at a Coinstar kiosk. Here’s the pitch to buyers: “Want to shop on Amazon.com without a credit or debit card? Now you can add cash to your Amazon Balance at select Coinstar kiosks and enjoy the same benefits of shopping online as any customer!”

Amazon introduced Amazon Cash in April 2017, which allows customers to add cash to their Amazon balance at retail stores. As we wrote in EcommerceBytes 411 at the time: “What’s in it for sellers? More customer, presumably. The Amazon Cash program means shoppers who don’t have credit or debit cards can still shop on Amazon.”

In November, Amazon Cash expanded in Canada by allowing Canadians to add cash to their Amazon balance at the post office.

Here’s how Amazon Cash at Coinstar works: Users enter the phone number associated with their Amazon account and insert bills into the cash acceptor on a Coinstar kiosk. An Amazon.com Gift Card is automatically purchased and entered into the user’s Amazon Balance, making it immediately available. Users can load any amount between $5 and $500 at select Coinstar kiosks.

Interestingly when reporting the news today, Geekwire noted that Coinstar continues to add new capabilities to its kiosks and wrote, “Last month it announced an integration with Seattle startup doxo that lets people pay bills at the kiosks.”

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Press release follows:

Coinstar announced today that customers can now add cash to their Amazon Balance by using Amazon Cash at select Coinstar kiosks across the country.

“We’re excited to team up with Amazon and give shoppers an easy and convenient way to add cash to their Amazon Balance,” said Jim Gaherity, CEO of Coinstar, LLC. “Coinstar is proud to enable Amazon Cash at Coinstar kiosks for cash-preferring customers, who can now enjoy the same benefits of shopping online as any other customer. Best of all, there are no fees to use the service.”

Amazon customers wishing to spend their cash on Amazon via Coinstar only need to associate their phone number to their Amazon account, which they can do at www.amazon.com/cash.

To begin a transaction at Coinstar cash-accepting kiosks, the customer selects “Cash Services,” and then “Amazon Cash.” Next, the customer enters their phone number and inserts bills into the cash acceptor on the kiosk totaling any amount between $5 and $500. An Amazon.com Gift Card is automatically purchased and claimed to the customer’s Amazon Balance and is available for immediate use for eligible items on Amazon.com or select affiliated properties. There is no fee to use this service at Coinstar kiosks.

Coinstar kiosks are conveniently located in high-traffic retail locations, including grocery stores and mass merchants. Coinstar expects to have approximately 5,000 kiosks enabled by the end of the year to accept cash for Amazon Cash customers, and the rollout begins today at select grocery stores in the northeast. To find a Coinstar cash-accepting kiosk with Amazon Cash functionality, customers may visit: coinstar.com/amazoncash. For additional details on Amazon Cash, including full terms and conditions, customers may visit: amazon.com/cash.

Ina Steiner is co-founder and Editor of EcommerceBytes and has been reporting on ecommerce since 1999. She's a widely cited authority on marketplace selling and is author of "Turn eBay Data Into Dollars" (McGraw-Hill 2006). Her blog was featured in the book, "Blogging Heroes" (Wiley 2008). Follow her on Twitter at @ecommercebytes and send news tips to ina@ecommercebytes.com.